Hanoi | Reuters — Vietnam is considering cutting tariffs on several U.S. products, the ministry of finance said in a statement on Monday, after U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross urged Vietnam to reduce its trade surplus during a visit to Hanoi last month. Tariffs on chicken and processed chicken meat, almonds, grapes, wheat, pork and […] Read more
Vietnam considers CPTPP-level tariff cuts on U.S. ag products
JBS says U.S. IPO would not change headquarters
Sao Paulo | Reuters — Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA said in a securities filing late on Friday the company is considering a U.S. listing of its international assets but not a change of its headquarters. The company said it expects to have a capital structure that allows it to compete “on equal footing” with international […] Read more
WTO tussles over hard stop or phase-out of appeals system
Geneva | Reuters — The World Trade Organization (WTO) battled on Tuesday over whether to bring its Appellate Body to an abrupt halt or allow its adjudicators to settle a handful of pending cases, according to trade officials present at a meeting on the subject. The Trump administration has for more than two years been […] Read more
CN strike to weigh on railway’s 2019 profit
Reuters — Canadian National Railway on Tuesday cut its adjusted profit growth target for 2019, citing shipment delays from the country’s largest rail strike in a decade that ended last week. Shares in CN, which counts billionaire Bill Gates’ investment firm as its biggest shareholder, fell almost two per cent in morning trading in both […] Read more
A ‘little more work’ needed on CUSMA deal, Trudeau says
Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday said a little more work needed to be done on a new continental trade deal which has run into opposition from some U.S. Democrats over labour and environmental provisions. Officials are trying to agree on a series of tweaks to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (CUSMA) […] Read more
CN kicks off recovery after eight-day strike
Reuters –– Canadian National Railway on Thursday said it was putting a recovery plan in place while ramping up operations after the country’s biggest rail strike in a decade. The eight-day-long work stoppage at Canada’s largest railroad sent shocks through the country’s economy with grain and propane shipments scuttled. The strike by about 3,200 conductors […] Read more
U.S. states declare emergencies to help farmers in propane shortage
Reuters — Regional shortages of propane, which is used for heating homes and barns and by farmers to dry their crops, have led to emergency declarations covering nine U.S. Midwest states amid late harvests of soggy grains. Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin declared state emergencies beginning in late October, and continued last Friday to […] Read more
CN to cut management, union jobs
Reuters — Canadian National Railway said on Friday it would cut management and union jobs, as the largest Canadian railroad operator grapples with an economic slowdown. The company will lay off 1,600 employees in the U.S. and Canada, according to a report by the Globe and Mail. The announcement comes amid declining freight volumes as […] Read more
Pot producer Canopy Growth to stop expanding in Canada
Reuters — Canopy Growth Corp. on Thursday reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss on soaring expenses and said it would not make any large investments to expand in Canada amid surplus supply and tepid demand for weed and weed products. The decision to hold expansion plans follows a wave of enthusiastic spending by marijuana companies to […] Read more
ADM says to focus on organic growth after acquisitions
Geneva | Reuters — Grain trader Archer Daniels Midland does not expect to continue its aggressive strategy of acquisitions in the next few years and will instead focus on organic growth, a senior official said on Wednesday. “With this level of acquisitions we have had, I don’t think you will see ADM being a very […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
